Christian Leaders Appeal For Peace With Justice in Holy Land

Communications and Public Relations OfficeThe Episcopal/Anglican Diocese of JerusalemNational Christian leaders meeting at The Carter Center on May 14-15 sent the following letter to President Barack Obama following two days of discussions on the Israeli/Palestinian conflict. Citing a growing sense of despair in the Holy Land, the letter conveys to the President support for his efforts to push for a two-state solution and calls for an immediate opening of the Gaza borders.

The diverse group included the Rev Mark S. Hanson, presiding bishop, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America; Jim Wallis, president and chief executive officer, Sojourners; the Rev. Dr. William Shaw, president of National Baptist Convention, Inc.; the Rt. Rev. Suheil Dawani, Anglican bishop in Jerusalem; Ambassador Warren Clark, executive director, Churches for Middle East Peace; Dr. Bob Roberts, Jr., founder and senior pastor, North Wood Church; and others. In response to requests from leading members in the Christian community, The Carter Center agreed to host the conference. Planning for the conference began prior to the election of 2008. Anticipating the arrival of a new administration in Washington, the Carter Center’s Human Rights Program agreed to convene a conference Towards a New Christian Consensus: Peace with Justice in the Holy Land.

Its purpose would be to present to the new administration the collective conviction and Christian understanding among the participants of the importance of immediate action to seek “peace with justice in the Holy Land”.

At the close of the two day conference, the participants crafted a brief letter , which was sent to President Barack Obama Friday. The text of the letter and the names of those who signed it follow:

May 15, 2009

Dear President Obama,

We are a diverse group of Christian leaders convened in Atlanta, who have been meeting for the past two days. As you prepare for meetings with Israeli, Palestinian, and other Arab leaders, we offer you our support, encouragement and commitment. We have heard testimony consistent with the experiences of our churches in the Holy Land about a growing sense of despair. Yet, at this meeting we sense a rising hope. That hope is grounded in the growing consensus across the Christian community that supports a political solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the new leadership that you bring, both of which will make more possible a real, just, and lasting two-state solution and an end to conflict in the region that upholds the security and freedom of both Israelis and Palestinians.

Our pledge to you is to continue to build constituencies that will advocate for a just political settlement to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. We request that you call upon Prime Minister Netanyahu to embrace the principle of a two-state solution. As members of your administration have already suggested, we share a concern about how Israeli settlements make that solution less and less possible. Furthermore, we are concerned that a way be found immediately to open the Gaza borders in a manner that respects both humanitarian and security concerns.

We are committed to an ongoing conversation with you about achieving the solution we can no longer postpone. Know that we are praying for you in these critical meetings.

The Rev. Dr. Fahed Abu-Akel, Presbyterian Minister, Executive Director of AMIS, Inc, and Moderator of the 214th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)